From Tuesday April 4 till Sunday April 9 the 7th edition of the )toon) festival will be held on several different locations in Haarlem.Since its conception in 2000, the festival has aimed bridge the gap between the worlds of sound and vision. Two different sides that are both firmly rooted in electronics, and the dividing lines between these two are blurred more than ever before. The digital revolution, and more importantly, the introduction of the laptop computer, has literally brought down the walls. Musicians, visual artists and scientists currently share the same set of tools, and are now tresspassing in each others territories. Two pioneers, who have played an important role in these developments, will make a special appearance on
)toon)7: the American composer and video-artist Tony Conrad, and the German spatial sound artist Christina Kubisch.
Tony Conrad, (born Anthony S. Conrad in 1940), was one of the pioneers of New York minimalism, of microtonal music and of "deep listening". He worked in 1962 on Lamonte Young's "Dream Music" project with the likes of John Cale and Angus MacLise (both future Velvet Underground). The drones that he experimented with in the 60’s would later influence the legendary 70’s krautrock group Faust. They, in turn, have had a great influence on German electronic music in the 90’s, with Funkstöring being one of the key examples. Conrad, Faust, Funkstörung, and former Einstürzende Neubauten drummer FM Einheit will provide a full evening’s intertainment in the Patronaat on Friday the 7th of April.
Tony Conrad’s influence on ambient electronics will be the main focus of attention in the Lichtfabriek on the 6th of April, and will feature performances by Conrad himself, In Camera, and American musician and film maker Phil Niblock, who will perform in cooperation with Dutch sax player Thomas Ankersmit.
Christina Kubisch (Bremen, 1948), educated in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is a composer of concrete, acoustic and electronic music, mainly for multimedia installations. Since her compositions are part of the installations, they don't translate well into recordings. Her focus lies on the effects of natural and unnatural electro magnetic radiation. She will display one of her installations in Galerie de Schone Kunsten, and has devised a special town walk through the city of Haarlem. The inner city’s pattern of radiation will be made audible to the participants through the use of special headphones.
The
)toon)7 festival also has the exclusive honour to welcome electro group
AUX 88 (photo) to the Patronaat stage on Saturday the 8th of April. This legendary Detroit duo will perform on Dutch soil for the first time ever. They will be supported on the night by artists hailing from Rotterdam’s renowned Clone label: Duplex (LIVE), Dexter (LIVE), I-F and DJ Serge.
Tickets are available at the Patronaat and Ticketservice outlets (call 0900-3001250 or visit
www.ticketservice.nl for a complete list of addresses).
Go-as-you-please-tickets are also available for 30 euros (that’s a 60% discount) and grant access to all of the festival’s concerts and expositions. Each buyer will also receive a strictly limited edition of the festival CD.
For the complete programme, and all information concerning starting times, addresses, accessibility and tickets please visit the special festival website:
www.toonfestival.nl (source: Press Release) 
